Crimping head with laterally movable jaws



Jan. 27, 1953 A.YE. ALMGREN ET AL 2,626,581

CRIMPING HEAD WITH LATERALLY MOVABLE JAWS Filed Nov. 8, 1948 4Sheets-Sheet l A T To ENEYS Jan. 27, 1953 A. E. ALMGREN ETAL 2,626,581

CRIMPING HEAD WITH LATERALLY MOVABLE JAWS Filed Nov. 8, 194a 4Sheets-Sheet 2 J5 J6 53 Z29 I 6 L 50 I 30 f 24 6 57 Z9 Z9 5] I 31 Z4 M I2a IN V EN TOR. j

A 7' Tole/vs Y5 1953 A. E. ALMGREN ETAL 2,626,581

Patented Jan. 27, 1953 UNI TED S TATES PATENT OFFICE .CRIMPING'HEAD WITHLATERALLY .1-M01VABLE JAWS A guste. jAl mgrenfHillsida and John P."Jakob, *Rosell efN. .,-"as sig'nors to AmericanCan Compa'n'y, New'York, N. Y., 'a -corporation.of.-'New Jersey -Applicatio n November 8,1948,: 'S efial'No.58 ,854

' The present invention relates'to crimping heads for uniting parts ofcontainers and other'articles and has particular reference to an'improved jaw type crimpingheadhavingnovel devices for ac.-

tuating the crimping jaws.

An object of the 'inventionis theprov'ision of an improved crimping headwhich fissimple'in construction and which isparticularly adaptable tosmall work such as crimping or expanding or contracting one partrelative to anotherjpart to eiiec't the uniting of the parts.

Another object is the'provisionof an improved "crimping head wherein theoperation of the "crimping jaws intoand out'of'operative position "iscontrolled by a single 'reciprocable member without the aid of devicessuch as springs and the-like ordinarily'used for'operating the "jaws inone direction.

Numerous other objects and advantages of-the invention will be apparentas-it'is'better understood from thefollowing description; which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a-preferredembodiment -thereof.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a crimpinghe'ad embodying the instant invention, part of theih'ead being shown insection;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlargedzperspective.details of crimping jaws used .inthe head;shown inzFi'g. c1,

withxparts brokenraway;

:Figs. :4 and-.5 are:sectional' viewsitakemsubstantially along the line4-4 in Fig. 1, the .viewsshowing .parts of :the head indifferent.positions, and

showing the upper portion of a container in .sec- *tion and in .positionfor closing by the head;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view'taken substantially along the line 6-6 inFig. 4, with .parts shown in full; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are bottom plan views-takensubstantially along the lines'll, 8-8 vin the :respective Figs. 4 and 5, with parts broken away.

As a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the instant invention thedrawings illustrate a crimping head for outwardly crimping by expansion,the side walls A (Fig. 4) of a fibre friction plug B for closing andsealing a dispensing-opening C of a fibre milk container'Dof the'typedisclosed in United States Patent 2,085L979' issued July 6, 1937 to JohnM.'Hothersallon'Container, although the invention is equally welladapted to crimping by contraction and to other similar crimpingoperations and to metallic articles as well as nonmetallic articles.

I he crimping head preferably is of substantially cylindrical formationand includesalhollow tapered shell ll (Figs. 4 and 5) having an openupper "end and having an integral foot section "or'elem'ent l2surrounding arestricted opening l3 at its lower end for engaging thearticle to be operatedupon forlocating and supporting the article duringthe crimping operation. This shell l [at its upper endisthreadedlysecured to a depending, surrounding flange 14 of a cup shapedcylindrieal body member l5 having 'a centrally located hub l 6surrounding the axisof the head.

The hub 16 of the body member [5 is formed partly inside andpartly-outside of the-member.

This hubservesas a bearing for a reciprocable rod lfiwhich extendsdowninto the interior of the shell H. The rod-may be reciprocated in itsbearing in-any suitable manner.

"The inner orlower end of therod [8, as viewed in Fig. hcarries -aninvertedfrusto-conical shaped bearing block or jaw actuating element Hwhich is held in place by a'large headed screw-22 threadedly'engagedinthe lower end of the rod. This block carriesa plurality'of cylindrical'jaw shanks 24, 25 which are slidably disposed in upright James orbearings 26, '21 formed in the block around its axis and at an anglethereto. The

"bearings-21 aredispo'sed' at agreater anglerela- 'tive to'the axis ofthe block, than the bearings "26, as will :be readily observed in thedrawings, for a;purpose to 'behereinafter explained.

The drawings show three shanks Maud three shanks 25 alternately locatedand they slope downwardly "and inwardly toward the opening 13 in theshell H. At their upperends, all of the shanks are individuallysupported on horizontally and'radially disposed stationary sliders"or-slide pins 28 which extend through transverse bearing holes 29formed'in the upper ends of the I shanks.

The inner ends of the pins 28-are supported in spaced' and radial bores3'!) in the bearing N5 of the head body I5. The outer'ends of the pinsare supported in similarly spaced and'radial bores 3| formed in theflange I l of the head body 15. The outer ends of the pins are formedwith enlarged locating heads 32 which are recessed into the body flange14 and which are engaged by a ring 33 which surrounds the body flangeforretaining the pins 28 .in' place.

At their lower ends each jaw shank 22, 25 is formed. with a dependingextension .35 whichprojects through the opening 13 in the'shell H andwhich terminates in a crimping jaw. For an inside expanding operationsuch as that shown in the drawings as an example of a crimping action,the jaws are proportioned and arranged in such a manner as to form "acompact group or nest which may be contracted forinsertion into thearticle to be crimped and which may be expanded to produce a fullcontinuous outer-crimping surface for effecting the crimping operation.For this purpose each of the extensions 36 of the three shanks 24 areformed with segmental shaped jaws 3'! (Figs. 2, 4, 7 and 8) having arelatively long outer curved crimping edge 38 and an inner straightguiding edge 39.

In a similar manner each of the extensions 36 of the alternate threeshanks 25 (Figs. 3, '7 and 8) are formed with trapezoidiform jaws 4|having a relatively short outer curved crimping edge 42 and a pair ofdiverging or tapered straight guiding edges 43. In the contractedposition of the jaws 31, 4| as best shown in Figs. 4 and 7, thetrapezoidiform jaws 4| are disposed inside of the nest of jaws, withtheir guiding edges 43 engaging against the inner or guiding edges 39 ofthe segmental jaws 31. When the jaws are expanded into their crimpingposition as best shown in Fig. 8 they move outwardly in such a mannerthat the guiding edges 43 of the trapezoidiform jaws 4| slide along theguiding edges 39 of the segmental jaws 31 until the outer curved edges38, 42 of these jaws align with each other and thus produce the full,continuous outer crimping surface hereinbefore mentioned.

During this expanding action, the trapezoidiform jaws 4| move outwardlya greater distance than the segmental jaws 31. It is for this reasonthat the bearings 21 in the actuating block 2| for the jaw shanks 25 aredisposed at a greater angle to the axis of the head, than the bores 23for the shanks 24, as hereinbefore mentioned.

In the operation of the crimping head described above, the crimping jaws31, 4| are normally disposed in their contracted position as best shownin Figs. 4 and '7 for insertion into the friction plug B of thecontainer D when the container or other article is positioned inlocating engagement with the foot element |2 of the shell throughrelative movement between the head and the container. By relativemovement between the head and the container is meant that the head couldbe moved down onto the container, or the container could be forcedagainst the head. Also the body member l could be held stationary andthe rod I8 made movable, as described, or the rod i8 held stationary andthe body member i5 made movable. In either case there is a reciprocatingmovement between the body member I5 and the rod 18 with its attachedbearing block 2|. Any or all of these relative movements are inherentlypossible in the construction disclosed. With the contracted jaws locatedwithin the friction plug B of the container, the rod I8 is pusheddownwardly as viewed in Fig. 4 when the body member is stationary andthis moves down the actuating or bearing block 2| into the positionshown in Fig. 5. As the block 2| moves down into this position it slidesalong the jaw shanks 24, 25 and since the upper ends of these shanks aresupported on the slide pins 28, the shanks are forced outwardly.

During this outward movement of the shanks 24,25 the upper ends of theshanks slide outwardly along the slide pins 28 and the jaws 31, 4| atthe lower ends of the shanks move outwardly into their expandedpositions as shown in Fig. 8. The jaws, in thus moving int theirexpanded position engage and expand the side wall section A of thefriction plug B of the container D and thus crimp these side walls underthe top wall of the container, producing an expanded bead E (Fig. 5)which secures the plug in place in the 4 opening C of the container.This completes the crimping operation.

Upon completion of the crimping operation, the rod l8 and its attachedbearing block 2| are raised to their upper or normal position as shownin Fig. 4 and this shifts the jaw shanks 24, 25 inwardly and thusreturns the jaws 31, 4| to their normally contracted positions. With thejaws thus contracted the crimped container may be readily removed fromthe head. This completes a cycle of operation of the head.

It will thus be observed that the action of the jaw shanks 24, 25 andtheir jaws 31, 4| is controlled in both inward and outward directions bya simple lowering and raising of the bearing block 2|. In this respectthe block 2| serves as a cam or double Wedge for alternately actingagainst opposite sides of the jaw shanks 24, 25.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described bein merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. In a crimping head for reforming bendable portions of articles, thecombination of a body member having a plurality of radially disposedsupport elements therein, a bearing block having an axis and a pluralityof slide bearings in said block arranged around said axis and disposedat an acute angle thereto, and a plurality of jaw shanks slideablydisposed within said slide bearings, each of said shanks having at oneend a crimping jaw and having its opposite end movably mounted on a saidradial support for lateral movement only relative to said body member,said body member and said bearing block being movable toward and awayfrom each other, said shanks through said movement being reciprocablein-said slide bearings and said jaws being movable by said blocklaterally relative to the axis of said slide block into and out ofarticle crimping position.

2. 'In a crimping head for reforming bendable portions of articles, thecombination of a body member, a bearing block having an axis and aplurality of slide bearings in said block arranged around said axis anddisposed at an acute angle thereto, and a plurality of jaw shanksslideably disposed within said slide bearings, a crimping jaw at one endof each shank, and slide means in said body member and engaging theopposite ends of said shanks and confining movement of the engaged endsof said shanks to a lateral direction only relative to said body member,said body member and said bearing block being movable toward and awayfrom each other, said shanks through said movement being reciprocable insaid slide bearings and said jaws being movable by said block laterallyrelative to the axis of said slide block into and out of articlecrimping position.

3. In a crimping head for reforming bendable portions of articles, thecombination of a body member, a bearing block mounted for movementrelative to said body member along a longitudinal axis, said blockhaving a plurality of slide bearings, some of said slide bearings beingdisposed at a specific acute angle to said longitudinal axis and otherbearings being disposed at a less acute angle, a jaw shank slideablydisposed within each slide bearing and having a lateral opening at oneend, the jaw shanks located in the bearings at said specific acute anglehaving segmental shaped crimping jaws with inner straight guiding edgesformed on the ends opposite to said lateral openings and the jaw shanksin the bearings disposed at said less acute angle having trapezoidiformcrimping jaws formed on the ends opposite their openings with outertapered guiding edges adapted to slide inside of the guiding edges ofsaid segmental crimping 10 jaws to contract the over all dimensions ofsaid jaws and when in an expanded position to provide a continuouscrimping edge, and slide pins secured in said body member and projectingat right angles to said longitudinal axis, each slide pin extendingthrough the lateral opening of one of said shanks and each shank havinglateral sliding movement on its associated pin, whereby movement of saidbearing block along its longitudinal axis moves said trapezoidiformcrimping jaws a greater distance laterally than said 6 segmentalcrimping jaws for expanding and contracting said jaws.

AUGUST E. ALMGREN. JOHN P. JAKOB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

, UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 583,184 Kutzner May 25, 1897808,556 Lindsay Dec. 26, 1905 1,099,757 Malmquist June 9, 1914 151,585,820 Baum May 25, 1926 1,839,501 Rollason Jan. 5, 1932 2,170,821Hothersall Aug. 29, 1939 2,282,495 Proctor May 12, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS20 Number Country Date 330,690 Great Britain June 19, 1930

